The present invention relates to ventilated footwear. More specifically, the present invention relates to footwear having openings in the arch area of the upper, a waterproof and breathable membrane across said openings, and a compressible insole with openings in the top side in communication with channels on the underside which are in communication with the openings in the arch area of the upper for ventilating the interior of a footwear.
Many kinds of footwear, such as athletic shoes, everyday walking shoes, and work boots have the drawback of poor ventilation. The inherent confining of the foot does not allow it to breathe, causing the foot to perspire and thereby promoting the development of bacteria, fungi and the like as well as the accompanying unpleasant odors and skin problems.
There have been various attempts to solve the problem of ventilating a shoe. A plethora of footwear constructions having various ventilation arrangements are known in the art. Openings in the upper are well known but suffer from the obvious problem of admitting debris and water. Complicated valve arrangements have been suggested by the prior art to close the opening. Many of the approaches have included a pumping means encased within the sole of the shoe, sometimes in communication with the openings in the upper. Generally, the weight of the foot is used to compress a bladder and force air out of apertures to ventilate the foot. Problems have also existed with failure of the bladder to reinflate. The shape and position of the bladder, or air pump, has been such that enough weight is always on it to prevent full inflation. Such mechanisms are typically prohibitively expensive to build into footwear and such complicated multi-component mechanisms are prone to failure and given that most of these prior art devices are built into the shoe, they are not easily repairable or replaceable.
There are also a variety of other solutions disclosed in order to improve ventilation, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,096. In this patent, the outsole is coupled to an insole, in which holes are traversing the thickness of the combined insole/outsole structure. The sole structure has a microporous, waterproof membrane disposed between the insole and the outsole, in order to allow the transpiration of the foot while keeping the foot dry. A primary disadvantage of that systems is that the openings to the exterior of the footwear are generally disposed a substantial part of the time against a surface, and such surface itself may be a source of hot air, for example hot road pavement. Another disadvantage with this solution is that since the holes for breathing are on the bottom of the outsole, the holes are often blocked by mud, dust or the like debris, resulting in the inefficient operation of the ventilation system.
An article of footwear comprising:
a lower part incorporating a sole,
an upper part coupled to said lower part and shaped to receive a foot of a wearer, said upper part having an arch portion with a plurality of openings providing communication between the outside of the upper part and the interior of the upper part,
a waterproof, breathable membrane across the openings, and
a compressible insole with openings in the top side in communication with channels on the underside which are in communication with the openings in the arch area of the upper part,
for ventilating the interior of a footwear.